Schedule

Sunday, September 22

7:30 am - 7:30 pmRegistration

8:30 am - 5:00 pmIP & Licensing Basics (Requires additional fee*.)
This course provides a survey of the basics of intellectual property (IP) and licensing. It builds a practical understanding of core IP and licensing concepts from both the business and legal perspectives. Each course, taught by both legal and business experts working as a team, is divided into five topics with examples, exercises and interaction between instructors and fellow students. Topics include: Introduction to IP; Basics of IP Commercialization & Licensing; Determining Reasonable License Fees & Royalty; Managing Risks; and a Licensing Case Study.

Technology transfer aspires to drive research down a faster path to revenue. The amount and complexity of market and competitor knowledge that must be discovered and tested to make critical business decisions is often comparable in scale to the technology knowledge discovered and tested in the lab! In this workshop condensed from LES Education's 2-day Cyber-Competitive Intelligence class, we'll use the interests of the class to select CI questions, then show participants how to frame that question using a simple, 7-part tool. You'll take away a step-wise method for answering important CI questions that can accelerate your path to revenue. (Laptops/Tablets will be useful, so please bring them)

***NEW*** Assessing the Company's IP Profile
This workshop teaches an iterative technique to help the attendee audit their IP portfolio, diagnose the its current state and then to provide actionable business steps to improve the value of the portfolio, the defensive posture of the portfolio, improving the opportunity for monetization and other business focused activities with their active IP assets. Much of the workshop will have the attendee interacting with tools and checklists to provide a hands on experience of developing a risk/outcome profile for the sample iP, diagnosing aspects of the portfolio, and coming up with action plans to improve their portfolio's usefulness.

Monday, September 23

9:00 am – 10:00 amKeynote SpeakerMyriad Genetics: From Concept to Reality
Richard Marsh, General Counsel of Myriad Genetics will discuss the genesis, evolution, and future of the company, interspersed with lessons learned in bringing a life sciences company from concept to reality. This includes a discussion of Myriad's more notable, or innovative, deals with companies of varying size, and a practical discussion of how those deals were structured and leveraged to give the parties mutual competitive advantage to promote the progress of the useful arts and improve the human condition.

Myriad's Supreme Court case will also be discussed, as this decision will have far-reaching implications for the life sciences industry, and will affect patentability for a wide variety of products, from those things arguably derived of nature to software.

A - Industry Cross-SectorLicense or Litigate?: Lessons Learned From Doing Deals Instead of Doing Battle
These panelists will discuss the use of licensing in resolution of, or as an alternative to, litigation, and how to construct provisions in such agreements to avoid the pitfalls of recent judicial decisions and regulatory enforcement. These experts have been on the leading edge of Hatch-Waxman settlements and the use of Standards Essential Patents, and have a wealth of information to share on the proper preparation and use of those agreements. The tools and techniques for navigating this perilous territory are useful in all aspects of licensing, and to everyone engaged in writing agreements.

B - Industry Cross-SectorSpecial Techniques and Insights when Valuing Intellectual Property Transactions: From Early Stage to Maturity
This panel will address the special techniques needed for valuation of all types of IP under various scenarios, and it will take a closer look at how negotiators should consider some of the unique aspects of IP and early stage technology when pricing transactions.

C - Industry Cross-SectorThe Role of IP in Multi-Disciplinary Deals
The term "multi-disciplinary deal" means different things to different people. However, one thing they all have in common is that they take discrete pieces of IP which when combined create an interesting and enhanced offering.
Aristotle - "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

D - Industry Cross-SectorThe Role of IP in M&A Strategy and Dealmaking: Views from Different industries and Constituents
IP plays an important role in most, if not all, M&A transactions. That said, the value placed on the IP, compared to that of the overall M&A transaction, can vary considerably due to factors that include the type of asset/company that is being acquired, the constituents involved, and the industry in which the deal is being transacted. These factors also drive differences in IP-related valuation methodologies, due diligence activities, and integration plans. It is the goal of this diverse set of panelists to show that a cookie-cutter approach to IP issues in M&A transactions is neither the norm nor often in the best interests of those involved.

12:15 pm – 1:45 pmLuncheon Featuring the 2013 Deals of Distinction Awards
The LES Deals of Distinction (DOD) Award is an annual Industry Sector award program recognizing worthy licensing deals that promote creative and innovative solutions to business issues involving contracts. The 2012 DOD winners included the AOL, Microsoft and Facebook deal, the Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim Strategic Alliance, and others. During lunch, dealmakers and recipients of the 2013 DOD Awards from two industry sectors will discuss their award-winning deals.

The 2013 LES Frank Barnes' Mentoring Award, honoring a LES member who has mentored many licensing executives, will also be presented during this luncheon.

Sponsored by:

2:00 pm - 3:15 pmWorkshop Session 1

1-AFunding Alternative: Corporate VCs – How to Get In, Stay In and Exit (Happily)!
This session will explore how Corporate VC's interact with their parent Company (strategic, financial, or both) and other VC's to identify and fund potential portfolio companies. With the end in mind, what is the process in the selection of the potential portfolio company, choosing the right management, shepherding it through the development process and guiding it onto a successful exit, wherever and whatever that may be. Assuming there is general commercial potential of the opportunity, is science or management the primary determinant in a potential investment? Is timing to exit a critical factor? What are the key issues facing Corporate VC's when syndicating with potential "competitors", i.e., other Corporate VC's? Are there synergies or constraints when syndicating with non-Corporate VC's? What role does the parent company play in the exit? Statistics of parent company acquisitions? What are the most challenging issues facing VC's in accomplishing their goals?

1-BAn Examination of the AST Purchase of the MIPS Technologies Portfolio
On November 6, 2012, it was announced that Bridge Crossing, a Series of Allied Security Trust, would acquire the majority of MIPS Technologies patents for $350M. Simultaneously, it was announced that Imagination Technologies would acquire the MIPS operating business including its remaining patents.

This session will examine the history of this deal, the split of assets that went to each company and the licenses that exist between them. This session will explain how the MIPS transaction permitted a consortium of operating companies to acquire patents and sublicensable patent rights for defensive purposes, while preserving rights needed by the acquirer to protect its ongoing business, all while maximizing value for MIPS shareholders. It will also discuss the availability of licenses to the portfolio to companies not part of the initial bidding consortium.

1-CThe Patent Market and Monetization: Valuation, Liquidity, and Other Challenges
Patents have become a critical category of assets for corporate America to gain a competitive advantage and generate revenue. Like other assets, patents have been increasingly purchased and sold for various operating and strategic purposes. However, unlike other assets, the market for patents is still underdeveloped, and the market illiquidity has posed substantial challenges to patent transactions. This workshop brings together veteran IP professionals to share their insights and experiences in dealing with the challenges in using the patent market as an intermediary for patent monetization. The panel will start with an analysis of patent sales price data, by addressing the issues such as benchmark price, premiums or discounts, pricing options (variable and mixed pricing etc.), stock market valuation of patents, and more importantly, how to use the market data to value patent portfolios and develop monetization strategies. After illustrating can be learned from the aggregate market data, the panel will move to focus on specific issues arising from patent monetization, including market illiquidity, incomplete information, lack of transparency, transaction costs, among others. The panelists will also discuss various strategies for IP practitioners to improve due diligence, expedite transactions, minimize transaction costs, and maximize profit.

1-DBetter Researched Opportunities, Better Deal Outcomes
If you want to be first, you'll need control of the facts. In this session, an expert panel representing corporate licensing, government tech transfer, IP brokerage and IP analytics will discuss how proactive research techniques are used not just to create IP, but also to inform decision-making and due diligence in IP deal-making. Whether related to co-development, assertion or disposition, effective research techniques can increase the attractiveness and value of IP as it moves from cradle to grave. This panel will use historical and hypothetical situations to demonstrate how to "win" in complex deal scenarios that can be meaningfully informed by research, e.g., assessing one's own portfolio; identifying appropriate partners; building useful valuation metrics; gauging willingness to pay; and identifying BATNAs.

1-EWhat Is the Role of IP in Marketing Reward and Risk?
Join your colleagues to create the agenda for these highly interactive discussions on key questions related to this timely topic. In groups of 8-10, participants will share their experience and pose their challenges. Volunteer facilitators will keep the conversations moving and promote discussion among all attendees. This dynamic environment promotes engagement and provides an opportunity to explore issues in small groups and then report out to learn from other in the larger audience.

2:00 pm - 5:00 pmTrain-the-Trainer
Are you interested in teaching the IP & Licensing Basics: A One-Day Review(formerly PDS 100) for your Local Chapter or at LES Meetings? Now is your chance. LES (USA & Canada) is currently recruiting instructors. To be eligible, you will need to take the IP & Licensing Basics: A One-Day Review and attend the half day Train-the-Trainer (TTT) workshop.Those who sign up to attend the 1.5 days of training (IP & Licensing Basics: A One-Day Review + TTT) will be able to participate for free in both programs. Following your training, you will have access to course materials, coaching, & local chapter resources to get you started.

2-ACreating Value For Novel Platform Technology Engines; Ratchet Up Your Negotiating Skills with Insights into Competitive Platform Deals
Novel platform technology engines are producing the fastest growing class of therapeutic agents in the life sciences. In this highly competitive space, it's critical for the creation of value for licensors to both clearly differentiate the benefits of their platform from others and to establish a proprietary position around these platforms. For licensees, establishing a proprietary position around the output of the platform, as opposed to the platform itself, is important. This session will address where the interests of both licensors and licensees align and diverge.

2-CPatent License Valuation in the Real World
There is no escaping patents in virtually every high tech deal. Often patents are the single biggest component in driving value. Opposite sides of a negotiation more often than not have wildly different views on what the value of a patent license should be. There are various numerical analyses and rules of thumb that professionals use to come up with what they believe is the "right" number. Putting a value on the various risks inherent in patent licensing can turn what is in theory an objective decision-making process into a very subjective one. This panel workshop will discuss considerations and techniques for valuation of risks associated with patent licensing from various perspectives. Panelists will address these issues based on their experiences from the perspectives of the licensor, the licensee, outside counsel, and third-party investor. The discussion will highlight analytical frameworks to use and share real life examples from the world of patent licensing and litigation.

2-DCollaborating between Industry and Academic Healthcare Institutions – A Changing Landscape
Universities and academic healthcare institutions are constantly developing innovative life science technologies, and private companies often look to these institutions as a source for their next big commercial product. While institutions have historically been willing to out-license their technology to private companies, the fundamental missions of many institutions, including promoting public welfare and providing general access to technology, is often at odds with the goals of the private sector to exclusively license technology and maximize profit. As a result, structuring a transaction between a private company and an institution creates challenges that are not often seen in deals between two private companies, and negotiations can easily get derailed for those who are unprepared to address these issues. This workshop will identify certain distinctive issues that may arise when negotiating a license with a university or academic healthcare institution, and propose potential solutions to create a win/win between industry and academia.

2-EHow to Close an IP Deal
As an alternative to the typical workshop or panel presentations, these highly interactive discussions enable you to help create the agenda to discuss key questions related to this timely topic. In groups of 8-10, participants will share their experience and pose their challenges. Volunteer facilitators will keep the conversations moving and promote discussion among all attendees. This dynamic environment promotes engagement and provides an opportunity to explore issues in small groups and then report out to learn from other in the larger audience.

5:00 pm – 6:00 pmLES Foundation Reception6:30 pm – 8:30 pmNetworking Reception at the National Constitution Center
Networking Reception at the National Constitution Center
Join your LES colleagues for an evening of networking at the National Constitution Center. Located on Independence Mall in Historic Philadelphia, the birthplace of American freedom, the Center illuminates constitutional ideals and inspires active citizenship through a state-of-the-art museum experience.
(Shuttle Service Provided)

9:00 am – 10:30 amFeatured Panel:To Troll or Not to Troll? Legislative, Judicial and Market-Based Solutions
Patent trolls, non-practicing entities (NPEs), patent assertion entities (PAEs), patent monetization entities (PMEs) - whichever term you prefer - are organizations that exist for the sole purpose of licensing patents but do not manufacture products. There are strong opinions about these types of organizations, and organizations that license their IP to them – aka Privateers, and the impact of their activity on operating companies, innovation, and the economy. Some have even taken action against them, with one more recent example being the SHIELD Act, a legislative initiative aimed at curbing NPE behavior. This panel, including diverse perspectives from operating companies, NPEs, and others, will address legislative, judicial, ITC and market-based solutions to the challenges NPEs pose, and will also consider whether there is a problem in the first place.

Moderator:Joff Wild, Editor, IAM Magazine

Panelists:

Robert Heath, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, RPX Corporation

A - Chemicals, Energy, Environmental & MaterialsWhen Bad Things Happen to Good Deals
Join us for a lively discussion of the importance of the words, phrases and clauses that can have so much impact in “living with the deal.” Since the risks encompassed by what and how the drafting is done are risks borne by the business, every licensing executive should have a clear understanding of these provisions even though they think they delegated to the legal group. The focus of the discussion will begin with a fictitious case of a new technology for plastics that includes supply of a catalyst, the question of the licensor completing additional chemical licensing agreements, and the prospect of a national oil company licensing the package in order to build a world-scale plant and enter the European market.

B - High TechThe JOBS Act, Crowdfunding & the Future of Innovation
Funding and commercializing IP and innovation in emerging markets is a priority for public and private sectors. The JOBS Act, signed into law by President Obama in April 2012, is expected to change the way that innovation is financed on Wall Street. The JOBS Act seeks to create an "on-ramp" to the IPO markets for companies raising smaller amounts of capital and to set rules & regulations for raising investment capital through crowdfunding.

This session will explore the impact that the JOBS Act is expected to have on the future of innovation in cleantech and nanotechnology. Featuring a cross-disciplinary group of visionary thought-leaders, the panel will identify the key technology trends in these industries, and the unique challenges related to funding and commercializing innovation as these industries follow the path from early stage to maturity.

C - Industry-University-Government InterfaceManaging Conflicts in License Language: Know What to Expect Before Drafting the Agreement
Drafting license agreements often involves boilerplate language that is included without a solid understanding of its importance to the licensor and its impact to the licensee. Advanced knowledge of the limitations of the parties relating to license language can help to tailor the language to meet the mutual needs of each party. This is hard to accomplish in the process of negotiating a license - each party is using their negotiation skills to influence the outcome of the deal. Post-deal evaluation is rarely done to assess why certain clauses or terms created complications that delayed or prevented execution of the deal. Knowing these issues in advance, even from a broad perspective, can enable the parties to find common ground earlier and move the agreement faster.

In this session, participants will hear speakers discuss agreement language that can create a barrier to licensing success. The panelists will provide perspectives from the three common types of licensors: Industry, University and Government. Each panelist will describe common push back on license language, why the language is important and the factors that they consider when negotiating those clauses.

D - Life SciencesDealmaking in an Obamacare World – Strategies & Tradeoffs
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will prompt a change in the way licensing and business development professionals think and approach their businesses. With a shift in emphasis from large markets and traditional safety and efficacy metrics to key criteria including economic value and relative outcomes, what are the implications for dealmaking in healthcare over the long-term? Leading healthcare investors, academic and pharmaceutical industry experts will discuss some of the key topics at the forefront of this issue, including pricing pressure, utilization risk, and reimbursement volatility, and where they see the greatest areas for investment moving forward. Audience participation is encouraged.

3-AThe Inside Scoop on Dealmaking from the Big Pharma Licensing Executives
This session will feature senior Business Development executives from large pharma sharing the inside scoop on their licensing programs, the types of partnerships they're hot for and the strategies they're using for attracting, structuring and executing high profile deals. The session should be highly valuable for the biotech and academic LES communities to understand each company's mindset and strategic vision regarding dealmaking, areas of interest, pinnacles and pitfalls in the negotiation process and the best way to approach big pharma.

3-BStrategic Alliances and Defensive Patent Strategies - Different Models Achieving Similar Results?
Patent litigation has become a business model where Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) have built a multi-billion dollar industry based on litigating patents for financial gain. Operating companies are a major source of revenue in such a business model and several market based solutions have been introduced over the last few years to address the PAE issue. Some of the key defensive patent aggregators/entities include Allied Security Trust (AST), Rational Patent Corporation (RPX), Open Invention Network (OIN) and other recently formed entities such as Unified Patents, Syndicated Patents, Patronus, etc. All of these entities exist essentially for mitigating patent risk to operating companies. This workshop will provide insights into how these models are different from each other while exploring their successes in clearing patent risk that arise from patents available in the secondary markets.

3-CGet Your Fair Share of the Deal
As a Licensor, you're in an enviable position. Someone has a critical need for your technology and requires a license from you. You've granted permission with the understanding that your new partner will continue to work with you, provide you with project details, and royalty payment. It took substantial time and effort to negotiate the license, but it was worth it. You'll be well compensated. Well, you should be well compensated. But the reality is, 89% of the time royalty payments are not accurate, and licensors are paid less than what they are owed. In "Get Your Fair Share of the Deal," attendees will learn how to increase royalty revenue and preserve licensing relationships while ensuring receipt for the full amount of the royalties negotiated. Our expert panel will discuss how audit outcomes can be instructive and teach workshop participants tips for negotiating licenses that result in more accurate reporting.

3-E***NEW***Hot Topic Workshop: How to Determine What's "Reasonable" in RAND Royalty Rates
"The high-tech patent wars have been powered by the ability of companies to extract significant profits through the protection and assertion of its patent rights. But now, the courts have taken a stand on excessive valuations, at least for the kind of patents deemed vital for an industry's success.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington recently established a framework for determining reasonable and nondiscriminatory ("RAND") royalty rates on standard essential patents ("SEPs"). The court did so by constructing a hypothetical negotiation between Motorola and Microsoft. In doing so, the court also modified the use of the Georgia Pacific Factors.
The implications of this decision, along with expert advice on how to proceed in this new environment, will be discussed by our expert panel.

Topics include:

Discuss the use of RAND royalty rates and whether this opinion fairly compensates patent owners for their IP.

Discuss the use of hypothetical negotiations, and the application of the Georgia Pacific factors, and how they impact IP valuation.

Discuss the new due diligence burden placed on industry standard setters and IP owners as a result of this decision.

4-ASponsored & Collaborative Research: IP in Deals Between Universities/Research Institutions and IndustryThis interactive session will have the panel (and audience participants) focus on the aspects of managing the expectations & intellectual property interests of universities/research institutions and industry in negotiating and administering sponsored and collaborative research agreements. We'll be covering a variety of IP topics that can often lead to misunderstandings in university-industry research collaborations.

The panel includes speakers with substantial experience in sponsored and collaborative research agreements from the perspectives of the university/research institution, start-ups, high tech and life sciences companies, and outside legal counsel.

4-BWar of the Titans: Several Decisions Making Milestones
The consumer electronics marketplace, and in particular the mobile market, is so competitive and is changing so rapidly that everybody is desperate to secure any kind of competitive advantage that they can have in the marketplace. For years big players abstained from litigating their huge patent portfolios, also in view of the existence of several cross license agreements between the multinational companies. Recently due to the entrance in specific area of the market of new players, and invasion of field of activities, big companies decided to use IP right as a tool of competing and defending their own share of market.

4-C ***NEW***Hot Topic Workshop: What You Haven't Been Told About Licensing Standards-Essential Patents: The Patent Holder's Perspective
The session will address the realities of licensing of standards-essential patents ("SEPs") subject to voluntary FRAND commitments from the licensor's perspective, and examine why, contrary to some reports in popular media, SEP owners do not have undue leverage in licensing negotiations. The balancing of interests in SEP license negotiations that result from voluntary FRAND commitments will be investigated and discussed. The panelists will also examine the concepts and fallacies expressed by the pejorative terms "hold-up" and "royalty stacking" in recent press coverage of high-profile cases involving potential SEPs, and explore the reasons why admissible evidence of these alleged phenomena have not been found in any district court case or ITC investigation.

Please note: Chatham House Rules apply to this workshop: Participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed. Recording of this session will not be permitted. This content will not subsequently be made available in recorded format.

4-DMoving a Mountain with a Village: Accelerating Natural Gas in Transportation via Licensing and Strategic Collaborations
Natural gas as a vehicle fuel has been shown to provide economic, energy security and environmental benefits, however, as with other technologies, the shift to natural gas can be slow. This panel composed of leaders in the natural gas vehicle and fueling industries will discuss the challenges and their joint efforts in licensing and collaborations to address these challenges and promote accelerated uptake of natural gas in transportation. This panel will discuss their experiences and initiatives relevant to all organizations leveraging IP to create new markets. The focus will be on not only how to commercialize and extract value from disruptive technology, but also some thoughts on how to accelerate the adoption or substitution of new technology leveraging licensing initiatives into collaborations that influence the associated stakeholders, including fueling infrastructure, companies and government.

4-EHot Topic Workshop: Congress v Trolls: Big Implications for Licensing and the Future of Innovation
This panel will present a discussion that will review the "anti-troll" bills currently in Congress, assess their likelihood of passage, consider whether they will acheive their stated aims, and try to determine what unintended side effects they may cause. Our panel will include representatives of the pharma, high-tech, and university sectors, each of whom will bring their own unique perspective to the issue.

4:00pm – 6:00pmWine and Cheese Reception in the Tech Fair
Join us at the LES Tech Fair and enjoy wine and cheese while networking and meeting potential business partners. You can preview the latest technologies, find solutions to business issues, solve problems, uncover emerging trends, and develop valuable resources and partnerships.

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Royalty Rate Survey Committee Meeting

6:00pm - 7:00pmIndustry Sector Receptions
Attending an industry sector reception is a great way to further networking with professionals within your targeted and related industries!

Join your CEEM and IUGI Sector colleagues for dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy and experience American-Italian recipes made from scratch. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to connect in this warm environment while enjoying cocktails and delicious New World Italian cuisine!

Join your Life Sciences Sector colleagues for an evening at Amada, Chef Jose Garces' iconic first restaurant. Garces has emerged as one of the nation's most gifted chefs and restaurateurs. Since opening in 2005, the gorgeous rustic-chic restaurant and bar has embraced the rich traditions of Spanish gastronomy while incorporating avant-garde cooking techniques. Don't miss out on this exciting and unique culinary experience with your associates!

Amada
217 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(5 minute taxi ride)

Sponsored by

*Sector event registration is open only to those registered for the LES Annual Meeting and may require an additional fee to participate.

A - Consumer Products
9:00 am - 9:15 amBrand and Trademark Role in Licensing Deals: Licensing Tools and Tactics to Enforce your IP and Avoid Litigation IntroductionA key element of a successful brand licensing strategy is the steps taken by the licensor and licensee to protect, defend and enforce their trademarks, brands and other IP. The session will explore the key issues to consider in licensing transactions to protect the brand and protect the IP. The panel will explore contractual as well as operational tools and tactics. Actual cases will be reviewed and tips to avoid litigation will be discussed. This session is jointly sponsored by the consumer products sector and the trademark committee.

9:00 am - 10:00 amThe Increasing Importance of Trade Secrets in Intellectual Property Portfolio Management in an Uncertain Patent Landscape
This session will begin with a recap of the increasing importance of trade secrets in intellectual property portfolios and licensing strategies in light of recent Supreme Court case law, followed by a discussion of lessons learned and useful strategies by experienced corporate licensing executives for maintaining trade secrets.

10:30 am - 12:00pmPerspectives from Inside
This panel discussion will feature perspectives from companies who are involved in a range of licensing. The discussion will include negotiation strategies for getting deals done and tips for engaging and working with outside counsel.

9:00 am - 10:30 amPhilly Nanotechnology – A Brotherly Collaboration of Industry, University and Government Interplay
The Philadelphia and surrounding areas have a lot of activity and infrastructure supporting research, development and commercial activity in the Nanotechnology space. This session will look at some of the players, systems and services available for R&D, technology maturation and commercialization from this unique region

9:00 am - 10:30 amThe Insiders' Perspective on the Kodak Auction: What Really Happened and What It Means
This year's High Tech Sector Deal of Distinction (DOD) Award goes to a deal spawned by the demise of a technology-driven company with multi-generational history. Kodak, RPX, and IV have won this year's HTS DOD Award and drawn a lot of interest from those in the IP licensing and commercialization industries. The recent $500M+ auction of Kodak's patent portfolio was the result of a number of very unique factors: a bankruptcy, existing litigation, major creditors, and a very limited timeline. The LES Annual Meeting will host an exclusive briefing featuring auction architects and participants. Attendees can expect to hear enlightening discussion and debate about:

9:00 am - 10:00 amConnecting Proof of Relevance™ to Proven Value for Pharma
After decades of obsession with late stage dealmaking and M&A, Pharma is returning to the early stage deal space, an inevitable result of their steady and certain departure from internal discovery. This is very welcome news for innovative early stage companies, especially those with potentially transformational discovery platforms, which have already seen deal valuations escalating. But with the persisting tight capital environment and the number of "available" early stage programs having increased nearly threefold over the past 10 years, Pharma will be an especially picky buyer in search of Proof of Relevance™ (PoR). PoR is the demonstration of compelling value of programs and platforms early in their development, often before traditional proof of concept is achieved. By prioritizing PoR, both pre-clinical and clinical stage companies can make better strategic decisions, thereby increasing their appeal to potential partners and investors.

10:30 am - 11:30 amBiotechnology Innovations after Myriad and Prometheus
On June 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme unanimously decided in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. that naturally occurring DNA segments are not patent eligible because they are products of nature and merely isolating such segments does not change their status for patent eligibility. However, complementary DNA (cDNA) is patent eligible because it is not naturally occurring.

In the long term, however, this decision will likely have a big impact on businesses engaged in developing chemical and biological therapeutics, with patents directed to isolated naturally occurring compounds. The Court has held that merely separating a segment of DNA from its natural surrounding is "not an act of invention." The panel will examine (1) the effect of Myriad on chemical and pharmaceutical patents directed towards naturally occurring compounds like proteins, antibodies, and other naturally occurring biomolecules, (2) the steps patent holders can take to decrease the chance that their claims will be held to be directed to patent ineligible subject matter, and (3) issues to consider during patent validity analysis in due-diligence.